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Erna Sack
Erna Dorothea Luise Sack (née Weber; 6 February 1898 – 2 March 1972) was a German lyric coloratura soprano, known as the German Nightingale for her high vocal range. Biography Erna Weber was born in Spandau, Berlin. As a child, her voice attracted attention both at school and in the church choir in which she sang. In 1921, she married Hermann Sack, of Jewish descent. She studied at the Prague Conservatory, and later privately in Berlin with Oscar Daniel. Her career accelerated in 1930 when her uncanny ability to sing stratospheric high notes, including "C above high C" ( C7), was discovered. Richard Strauss wrote a new cadenza for her high voice, for her to sing as Zerbinetta in ''Ariadne auf Naxos''. In 1931, she sang Norina in Donizetti's ''Don Pasquale'' at Bielefeld Opera, where her voice made a great impression and her gifts were immediately recognised. The Theater Wiesbaden engaged her in 1932, and in that year she also made several radio broadcasts and recordings. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spandau
Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land area. Overview Modern industries in Spandau include metalworking, and chemical and electrical factories. BMW Motorrad's Spandau factory made all BMW's motorcycles from 1969 until final assembly plants were added in Rayong, Thailand, in 2000, and Manaus, Brazil, in 2016. , Spandau's seat of government, was built in 1913. Other landmarks include the Renaissance-era Spandau Citadel, the 1848 St. Marien am Behnitz Catholic church designed by August Soller, and Spandau arsenal. That arsenal's MG 08, Spandau machine gun inspired the slang ''Spandau Ballet'' to describe dying soldiers on barbed wire during the First World War, and later was applied to the appearance of Nazi war criminals a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semperoper
The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the Theaterplatz (Dresden), Theaterplatz near the Elbe River in the historic centre of Dresden, Germany. The opera house was originally built by the architect Gottfried Semper in 1841. After a devastating fire in 1869, the opera house was rebuilt, partly again by Semper, and completed in 1878. The opera house has a long history of premieres, including major works by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. History The first opera house at the location of today's Semperoper was built by the architect Gottfried Semper. It opened on 13 April 1841 with an opera by Carl Maria von Weber. The building style itself is debated among many, as it has features that appear in three styles: early Renaissance and Baroque, with Corinthian style pillars typical o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Licia Albanese
Licia Albanese (July 22, 1909 – August 15, 2014) was an Italian-born American operatic soprano. Noted especially for her portrayals of the lyric heroines of Verdi and Puccini, Albanese was a leading artist with the Metropolitan Opera from 1940 to 1966. She also made many recordings and was chairwoman of The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, which is dedicated to assisting young artists and singers. Life and career Felicia Albanese was born in July 1909 in Torre Pelosa, (a subdivision of Noicattaro, Italy). Later she went to Torre a Mare, a quarter of Bari (the chief town of the Apulia region). She made her unofficial debut in Milan in 1934, when she replaced another soprano in Puccini's ''Madama Butterfly'', the role for which she would be celebrated. Over 40 years, she sang more than 300 performances of Cio-Cio-San. Although she has been praised for many of her roles, including Mimì, Violetta, Liù and Manon Lescaut, it is her portrayal of the ''geisha'' which has rem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tito Schipa
Tito Schipa (; born Raffaele Attilio Amedeo Schipa; 2 January 1889 in Lecce16 December 1965) was an Italian tenor. Biography Schipa was born as Raffaele Attilio Amedeo Schipa on 27 December 1888 in Lecce in Apulia into an Arbëreshë family; his birthday was recorded as January 2, 1889 for military conscription purposes. He studied in Milan and made his operatic debut at age 21 in 1910 at Vercelli. He subsequently appeared throughout Italy and in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1917, he created the role of Ruggiero in Puccini's '' La rondine''. In 1919, Schipa traveled to the United States, joining the Chicago Opera Company. He remained with the Chicago company until 1932, whereupon he appeared at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1932 to 1935, and again in 1941. He also sang at the San Francisco Opera, beginning in 1924. From 1929 to 1949 he performed regularly in Italy, including at La Scala, Milan and the Rome Opera. He returned to Buenos Aires to sing in 1954. In 1957, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before Mozart's death. It was Mozart's last opera. It was an outstanding success from its first performances, and remains a staple of the opera repertory. In the opera the Queen of the Night persuades Prince Tamino to rescue her daughter Pamina from captivity under the high priest Sarastro; instead, he learns the high ideals of Sarastro's community and seeks to join it. Separately, then together, Tamino and Pamina undergo severe trials of initiation, which end in triumph, with the Queen and her cohorts vanquished. The earthy Papageno, who accompanies Tamino on his quest, fails the trials completely but is rewarded anyway with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age resulted in List of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, more than 800 works representing virtually every Western classical genre of his time. Many of these compositions are acknowledged as pinnacles of the symphony, symphonic, concerto, concertante, chamber music, chamber, operatic, and choir, choral repertoires. Mozart is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Classical music, Western music, with his music admired for its "melodic beauty, its formal elegance and its richness of harmony and texture". Born in Salzburg, Mozart showed Child prodigy, prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. At age five, he was already competent on keyboard and violin, had begun to compose, and performed before European r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (now known collectively as the Royal Ballet and Opera). The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel, began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The current building is the third theatre on the site, following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856 to previous buildings. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The main auditorium ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Die Schweigsame Frau
''Die schweigsame Frau'' (''The Silent Woman''), Op. 80, is a 1935 comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to a libretto by Stefan Zweig after Ben Jonson's 1609 comedy '' Epicœne, or The Silent Woman''. Composition history Since '' Elektra'' and '' Der Rosenkavalier'', with only the exception of '' Intermezzo'', all previous operas by Strauss were based on libretti by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, who died in 1929. Stefan Zweig, who was then a celebrated author, had never met Strauss, who was his senior by 17 years. In his autobiography '' The World of Yesterday'', Zweig describes how Strauss got in touch with him after Hofmannsthal's death to ask him to write a libretto for a new opera. Zweig chose a theme from Ben Jonson. Politics of the opera Strauss was seen as an important icon of German music by the Nazis, who had seized power in Germany in April 1933. Strauss himself co-operated with the Nazis and became the president of the in November 1933. Zweig knew Strauss well ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telefunken
Telefunken was a German radio and television producer, founded in Berlin in 1903 as a joint venture between Siemens & Halske and the ''AEG (German company), Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ("General electricity company"). Prior to World War I, the company set up the first world-wide network of communications and was the first in the world to sell electronic televisions with cathode-ray tubes, in Germany in 1934. The brand had several incarnations: * ''Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, m.b.H., System Telefunken'', founded in 1903 as a joint venture between AEG and Siemens & Halske * ''Telefunken, Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie m.b.H.'', in 1923; since 1941 as subsidiary of AEG alone * ''Telefunken Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH'', in 1955 * ''Telefunken Aktiengesellschaft (AG)'', in 1963 * ''Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft AEG-Telefunken'', created in 1967 through a merger between Telefunken ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erich Kleiber
Erich Kleiber (5 August 1890 – 27 January 1956) was an Austrian, later Argentine, conductor, known for his interpretations of the classics and as an advocate of Neue Musik. Kleiber was born in Vienna, and after studying at the Prague Conservatory, he followed the traditional route for an aspiring conductor in German-speaking countries of the time, starting as a répétiteur in an opera house and moving into conducting in increasingly senior positions. After holding posts in Darmstadt (1912), Barmen-Elberfeld (1919), Düsseldorf (1921) and Mannheim (1922) he was appointed in 1923 to the important post of musical director of the Berlin State Opera. In Berlin, Kleiber's scrupulous musicianship and enterprising programming won him a high reputation, but after the Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933, he resigned in protest against its oppressive policies, and left the country, basing himself and his family in Buenos Aires. For the rest of his career he was a freelance, g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walther Ludwig
Walther Ludwig (17 March 1902 – 15 May 1981) was a German operatic lyric tenor, particularly associated with Mozart roles and Schubert lieder. Biography He was born on 17 March 1902 in Bad Oeynhausen. He first studied medicine in Freiburg before turning to voice studies in Königsberg, where he made his debut in 1928. He then sang in Schwerin, where he created the title role in Paul Graeners's ''Friedmann Bach'' in 1931. He joined the Städtische Oper Berlin in 1932, where he established himself in Mozart roles such as Belmonte, Don Ottavio, Tamino, Idomeneo, Ferrando, etc. After the war, he began appearing at the Hamburg State Opera, and made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1947 and at the Salzburg Festival in 1948. He also made guest appearances at La Scala in Milan, the Paris Opéra, the Royal Opera House in London, the Liceo in Barcelona. A stylish and musical lyric tenor, other notable roles included light Italian roles such as Nemorino, Ernesto, Duke of Mant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Schlusnus
Heinrich Schlusnus (6 August 1888 – 18 June 1952) was Germany's foremost lyric baritone of the interwar period. He sang opera and lieder with equal distinction. Career A native of Braubach, Schlusnus studied with voice teachers in Berlin and Frankfurt before making his debut at Hamburg's opera house in 1915. During World War I, he had fought and been severely wounded. Schlusnus sang at Nuremberg from 1915 to 1917 and at the prestigious Berlin State Opera from 1917 until 1951. He was engaged by the Chicago Opera for its 1927–28 season and appeared at the Bayreuth Festival in 1933. In 1919, an event of fundamental importance occurred. Schlusnus was already a successful singer, and yet he started again from scratch under the tutelage of Louis Bachner. During his earlier studies, it was fashionable to "cover" the voice, making it throaty, dark, and limited. Under Bachner, Schlusnus liberated his timbre and expanded his range. He sang simply as one speaks, naturally and distinctly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
